Marinduque Vacation-An Alternative to Boracay, if Night Life is not required!

Planning to Retire Soon!

If you are planning to retire in the Philippines soon, I suggest you visit several excellent websites on pro's and cons of retiring in the Philippines. However if you want to retire in the provinces, where life is simple, standard of living cheaper, less traffic congestion and pollution, availability of fresh seafood and vegetables compared to the big cities, my island province is the place for you! If this is your first time in my site, welcome. Please do not forget to read the latest national and international news in the right side bar of this blog. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights. The photo above is the front yard of Chateau Du Mer-Our Retirement Home in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Monday, May 25, 2009

Is there a Caste System in the Philippines?

The Philippines is not India or Pakistan. But better believe it, there is a caste system in the Philippines. The caste system exits between the rich and the poor, between educated and uneducated, and to some minor extent between the mestizos and the "browned-skinned and flat-nosed" Filipinos.

Let me start with the clash between the rich and the poor. It is well known that the Philippines is not really a true democracy but an oligarchy. Oligarchy is defined by Webster as a form of government in which the supreme power is place in the hands of a small exclusive class. This exclusive group are the rich. If you live in the Philippines, you know or have heard of a few families that run our country as well as our business. And what about the poor? They just suffer and accepts what is handed to them, good or bad!

The second item is the clash between the educated and uneducated. The educated usually had comfortable lives, excellent social status, travels, eats in five-star restaurants and also sends their children to excellent schools. The uneducated have lower social status, do the menial jobs and if lucky can get jobs as farming tenants, personal maids, or drivers of the rich and educated Filipinos. In Marinduque, there are hundreds of tenants who work for the rich landowners. These folks were raised as Roman Catholics, but only go to Church twice a year, during Christmas and Easter. When invited to your house in town, they will not enter your front door. They enter the back door. Entering the front door is bad manners. They will not eat at the same time with you, even though you invite them. They will wait until you are finish before they eat.

On the last item of heritage, spanish mestizos versus brown skinned Filipinos. Today, this is not so blatant. But during my grandparents and parents time, the mestizos feel they are superior in terms of social standing and race. They speak fluent Spanish as well as Tagalog and are the elites of society. The mestizos would look down on the non-mestizos or even the Chinese Filipinos. In Marinduque, a few decades ago, if you are Filipino-Chinese, you are not invited or included in the social activities of the "socialites", even though you are doing well as a businessman. It is only today, that it is no longer a social taboo to invite the non-mestizos to your home for a socialization. During my grandparents time, it is also a taboo to marry outside your social class. Children of the rich, are discourage to associate with children of families that resides in the "other side of the river" ( similar to American expression of the "other side of the railroad track").

Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center

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ABOUT ME

I am a retired Filipino-American who loves writing, gardening and photography. My wife ( of 58 years) and I enjoy our snowbird lifestyle between US and the Philippines.

We have a small but very private beach resort (above video) in the beautiful island of Marinduque, Philippines. I have several blog sites (ten), a personal blog, blogs about retiring or visiting the Philippines and about our beach resort-CHATEAU DU MER.

Fruit Trees in the Gardens of Chateau Du Mer

The Mango Tree-I have three varieties in my Garden-The Indian, Guimaras and Carabao Mangoes
My caretaker/gardener informed me last month that due to the El Nino drought in Marinduque, two of my Durian trees died in spite of his vigilant watering. One of the tree was attacked by insects that looks like a big fly but yellowish in color that sucks the sap of the seedling. The roots of the other tree was attacked by ants residing in the soil. However, my other fruit trees, the rambutans( 2), the lanzones(2) and the jack fruits ( 2) trees are doing well. The above eight fruit trees were given to me by Retired General Recaredo Sarmiento of Boac and Lucena., about three years ago. General Sarmiento is the “atid” of my wife. “Atid” is the colloquial term for brother. Evidently, Macrine's father, the late Bernardo Jambalos was the Godfather of General Sarmiento during his baptism and comfirmation.
Gen Sarmiento's hobby is orchard planting, reforestation and farming.
The other fruit trees in my garden are guayabanos, cashew, avocados, starapples, duhats, ates, guavas, mangoes( 3 varieties) and papayas as well as several varieties of bananas . Of the above fruit trees, my favorite is the guayabanos, also known as soursop tree known for its anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties . The following are photos of the fruit trees. The Durian photo is from the web. Note that it almost look like a jack fruit tree, except that the leaves are bigger and shiny. My desire is to have a passion fruit tree in the near future. You are welcome to visit my orchard and flower gardens any time, if perchance you are in the vicinity of The Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center.
The Rambutan Tree and Fruits
The Lanzone Tree and Fruits
The Jack Fruit Tree
The Durian Fruit Tree

Disclaimer: Most of the photos and videos included in this blog are not owned by me unless stated. If you are the owner of the photo/video and you would like to be credited, please let me know and I will pay proper attribution after careful verification of your identity and of your 'claimed' image/s. The photos/videos used in this blog are results of myGoogle and other Internet searches. Thank you and if you enjoy this blog, help support it by clicking on the ads.

Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Island

View of Mainland Marinduque from Tres Reyes Island-Click photo to link to Marinduque Awaits You